Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire.

Steam yacht Andria. Launched 18 Feb 1897
Ailsa Shipbuilding Company
TypePrivate
IndustryShipbuilding
Founded1885
Defunct2000
FateClosed
HeadquartersTroon and Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland

History

The company was founded in 1885 by Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquess of Ailsa, along with Peter James Wallace and Alexander McCredie.

In 1902 the Ailsa yard fitted out the polar exploration ship Scotia for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902–04. The Scotia sailed from Troon for the South Atlantic on 2 November 1902.[1]

The company built paddle steamers for various companies around the UK, including the New Medway Shipping Company's PS Medway Queen, the only estuary paddle steamer left in the UK.

During the First World War, the shipyard built the Royal Navy's first paddle minesweeper of the Racecourse class.[2]

During the Second World War, Ailsa built vessels for the Navy, including several Bangor-class minesweepers.

In 1977 Ailsa was nationalised and subsumed into the British Shipbuilders Corporation. In 1981, the assets of Ailsa and those of Ferguson Brothers were merged to form Ferguson-Ailsa, Limited. This grouping was split and privatised in 1986, the Ailsa yard being acquired by Perth Corporation as Ailsa & Perth, Limited.

Ailsa stopped large-scale shipbuilding in 1988 and finally closed as a shipbuilder in 2000.[3] The yard has recently been used for ship repair work and the fabrication of large concrete sections for a pier improvement programme in Grimsay, Western Isles.[4]

Ships built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company
Yard NoNameTypeLaunchNotes
4SS Lady AilsaCargo ship4 January 1888renamed Belgian Prince
53 SV Dalblair[5] Steel sailing vessel 3-masted barque 1895 Lost in a cyclone off Mauritius in 1902[6]
68TobrukItalian Navy gunboat1897Built as yacht Evona - since 1912 RN Tobruk
70SS HebridesPassenger ship24 March 1898
78KatoombaPatrol ship28 December 1898renamed USS Emeline
82The Marchioness[7]Cargo Steamer22 August 1899Sunk by a U-Boat 1916
105TritonMotor yacht1902now Madiz
121HMS Warrior[8]Yacht4 February 1904Requisitioned by Admiralty 1917 and 1939; at Dunkirk evacuation; sank off Portland after air attack 11 July 1940
294HMS AphisGunboat15 September 1915
297HMS AscotMinesweeper26 January 1916
298HMS AtherstoneMinesweeper4 April 1916
299HMS ChelmsfordMinesweeper14 June 1916
334HMS AberdareMinesweeper29 April 1918
335HMS AbingdonMinesweeper11 June 1918
336HMS AlburyMinesweeper21 November 1918
338HMS AlresfordMinesweeper17 January 1919
345HMS AppledoreMinesweeper15 August 1919
388PS Medway QueenPaddle steamer23 April 1924
396SS ScillonianPassenger vessel17 November 1925
432HMS RyeMinesweeper19 August 1940
437HMS HytheMinesweeper4 September 1941
439HMS ClactonMinesweeper19 December 1941
452HMS Loch Tarbert[9]Frigate19 October 1944
453HMS Loch Veyatie[10]Frigate8 October 1945
473HMS BottishamMinesweeper16 February 1953
474HMS BrantinghamMinesweeper4 December 1953
480MV CowalFerry20 January 1954
481MV ButeFerry28 September 1954
483HMS ElsenhamMinesweeper25 May 1955
484HMS EtchinghamMinesweeper9 December 1957
487HMS OckhamMinesweeper12 May 1959
488HMS OttringhamMinesweeper22 January 1958
496MV Glen SannoxFerry30 April 1957
499MV Lochalsh (II)Ferry1957renamed Scalpay
500MV Container Enterprise[11]Container ship19 February 1959subsequently Iscar I , Sea Container, Isamar, Freedom Express; Scuttled 2003
501MV Container Venturer[12]Container ship14 August 1959subsequently Trupial, Sea Mist, Skorpion I, Jeanny Cay II
506MV Slieve Donard[13]Cargo ship1 October 1959
507MV St. ClairPassenger29 April 1960
508MV Cerdic FerryFerry16 February 1961
509MV Doric FerryFerry27 October 1961
510MV KyleakinFerry1961renamed Largs
517MV BowbelleAggregate dredger11 May 1964Involved in the sinking of the Marchioness on the River Thames in 1989. Renamed Billo in 1992 and Bom Rei in 1996. Sank off the coast of Madeira in March 1996.[14]
529MV GlenachulishFerry1969
530MV IonaFerry22 January 1970renamed Pentalina-B
531MV CoruiskFerry26 June 1969
533MV Mona's QueenDiesel ferry22 December 1971
547MS Lady of MannFerry4 December 1975renamed Panagia Soumela
551MV Isle of CumbraeFerry23 December 1976
552MV SaturnFerry30 June 1977
554MV LochmorFerry11 June 1979
571RV CorystesResearch vessel1988
573MV Graemsay[15]Ferry1996
578HMS TrackerPatrol & training vesselJanuary 1998
579HMS RaiderPatrol & Training vessel1997
592MV Lochnevis[16]Ferry8 May 2000
Sources: Miramar[17]

Archives

The Ailsa Shipbuilding Company archives are maintained by the University of Glasgow Archives Services.[18]

References
  1. "William S. Bruce". South Pole.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  2. "HM Ships As extracted from Jane's Fighting Ships for 1919". Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  3. Ayrshire shipyard closing BBC News, 18 August 2000
  4. "Huge concrete box due for harbour". BBC News. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  5. "Dalblair". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  6. "Pointe D'Esny – Ship Wreck of the Dalblair – 1902". Vintage Mauritius. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  7. "The Marchioness". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  8. "Warrior". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  9. "HMS Loch Tarbert". Naval-History.Net. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  10. "HMS Loch Veyatie". Naval-History.Net. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  11. "Container Enterprise". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  12. "Container Venturer". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  13. "Slieve Donard". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  14. "Scottish Built Ships", www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  15. "Graemsay". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  16. "Lochnevis - History". Ships of Calmac. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  17. "Shipyard search results for "1015"". Miramar. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  18. "Records of Ailsa Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Troon, East Ayrshire, Scotland". from Glasgow University Archive Catalogue. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2009.


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